1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to rotary lawn mowers and, more particularly, to an apparatus for driving and braking a cutting blade of a lawn mower.
2. Description of the Related Art
The power lawn mower industry has constantly and diligently searched for devices that eliminate the hazards presented by a rapidly rotating mower blade in view of the fact that mower blade accidents can result from failure of a user to appreciate that the momentum of a mower blade tends to keep it in rotation for a period of time after it is declutched from the engine that drives it. A number of mower blade brakes have been developed to arrest rotation of the mower blade promptly upon its being declutched from the engine. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,813,215, 4,409,779 and 4,213,521. Many of these devices can be complicated to assemble and therefore, there is a continuing need for an improved blade brake for a lawn mower.